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Maren's list of environmental, cultural, and social justice events in and around Pittsburgh.

Mar 10: Inspire lecture on The Story and Power of Place

Inspire Speakers Series and p4 Pittsburgh present The Story and Power of Place with Joel Glanzberg, Valerie Goodwin, and Majestic Lane.

5:30-7 p.m. at the Elsie H. Hillman Auditorium at the Hill House Kaufmann Center (1825 Centre Ave.). Networking, food, and drink begin at 4:30). Fee on a sliding scale, $10-40. For more information and to register online, go here. New this season: free child care -- see details on the registration web page. GBCI and ACT48 credits available

Joel Glanzberg will share his life’s work on creating a symbiotic relationship between human existence and natural systems, and the role of mindfulness and self-reflection in understanding our place in the complex world around us. He will share insights into previous work completed around story of place work in Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood neighborhood. Valerie Goodwin will share how fabric, paint and thread can be used to map narratives through three lenses: the personal narrative, the fictional map narrative, and the political/sociological narrative. Majestic Lane will talk about moving beyond placemaking to sustaining and growing places that also promote equity and inclusion.

MORE ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Joel Glanzberg is a tracker and teacher of patterns in landscapes, and has focused on the integration of humans in their place. He works to help people learn to understand their places and how to live in them as inhabitants and co-creators. He helps people to see and think as nature does and to solve problems finding the “difference that makes a difference.” An active author and educator in the fields of permaculture and ecological restoration, he is skilled in cross-cultural communication and teaching.

Valerie S. Goodwin is a Fiber Artist and Associate Professor of Architecture at Florida A & M University’s School of Architecture and Engineering Technology in Tallahassee, Florida. She is the author of “Art Quilt Maps: Capture a Sense of Place with Fiber Collage – A Visual Guide.” Her interest in quilts grew out of her architectural background, and now her students investigate parallels between architecture and quality as an introduction to ideas about composition, ordering systems, color, and pattern.

Majestic Lane is Director of External Relations & Member Engagement with Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group. A community organizer since the 10th grade, Majestic is co-founder of Juice Up 412 – a social enterprise that aims to expand health and wellness access to communities that suffer from health disparities – as well as founder of GMTK Changemakers, an organization focused on improving the quality of life in under-resourced communities.

ABOUT THE INSPIRE SPEAKERS SERIES and p4 PITTSBURGH:We are pleased to announce that Green Building Alliance and The Heinz Endowments are partnering to bring this year’s lineup of exceptional speakers as a collaboration between Inspire Speakers Series and p4 Pittsburgh (People, Planet, Place and Performance). The two initiatives have the shared goal of bringing big thinkers to Pittsburgh coupled with local leaders to help us aspire to higher levels of performance for our businesses, communities, economy, and future growth. We look forward to having this season’s speakers open our minds to collaboration, innovation, and challenging the status quo.

Who is Maren?

Maren Cooke is a planetary scientist by training, but now concentrates on science and environmental education and activism on climate change, air quality, land use, energy, and sustainability. She serves on the board of the Group Against Smog & Pollution (GASP), and works closely with other organizations including the Climate Reality Leadership Corps, Sierra Club, Grow Pittsburgh, Transition Pittsburgh, the Green Education Movement, CMU’s Institute for Green Science, and the City of Pittsburgh. She volunteers as an Urban Ecosteward, a Tree Tender, and a Master Gardener, and co-founded a nature education program and a school garden at a local school. She has helped create science curricula and train teachers, and has taught physics, astronomy, environmental science, and permaculture to people of all ages. She operates an urban microfarm, supplying organic produce to a local restaurant and garden plants to the surrounding community, and has been rebuilding her family’s home as a demonstration site for green building and green living. Maren also organizes and hosts Sustainability Salons, a monthly environmental education forum and community gathering now six years running.